My former company, Grin Barcelona, is in dire straits. Apparently there is a 99% possibilities that they close their doors. Even though I consider some of the managers there openly poisonous, I also know many good people who’s about to lose their jobs, and that’s not good. It’s algo bad news (again) for the spanish videogame industry. A friend of mine said that ‘somehow seems impossible to have good and ambitious videogame companies here in Spain’.
I’m also confused about the reasons the managers argued to justify the closing down. They said the poor reviews of ‘Wanted –Weapons of Fate’ have been the company’s headshot. I doubt that. ‘Clive Baker’s Jericho’ had the same metacritics rating (62) and the company not only survived but they’re working on the highly promising Lords of Shadows (I had the chance to take a loot at it and their vertical slice looks awesome).
I suspect there is something more. We’ll see.
Update (6.12.09): I've just been contacted by one of the managers at Grin BCN, claiming that the main reason for the studio having problems is not Wanted. Anyway, my sympathies are with the hard-working people there who are about to lose their jobs. Good luck, guys.
